turnorburn
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We take our text today from Luke 23:43, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
These are the greatest words that Jesus ever spoke. They are the words of God's grace to pardon from all evil in the blood of His Son, and to earn the right of eternal life in glory. There is really only one question above all others. That question is this: Am I one who belongs to Jesus Christ? That is the only important question at death. Then to hear Jesus say, "Verily I say unto you, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Then all is well, no matter what.
We must hear Him say that to us today. It is not enough simply to know that Jesus said these words to the repentant thief upon the cross. It is not enough simply to stand in awe at the absolute wonder of His grace to save this man from the brink of hell and take him to the gates of heaven. We must hear Him say this to us in the gospel. He must give us grace and faith to see ourselves as represented in that thief, to understand the hopelessness of our own sin and acknowledge our own just condemnation before God. He must work faith in our heart that we see Christ and His cross as the only way of salvation and cry out: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." And we must hear Him, by that same faith, speak the most wonderful and precious words to our hearts: "Verily I say unto you, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise."
These words are the second time that Jesus spoke from the cross. The first word He spoke was, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." It was about an hour or so after that that Jesus speaks the second time. During that time He was subjected to the most cruel ridicule against Him. There is a very close relationship between these two words from the cross. When Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them," He was praying for His church and for His people. Now the Father gives to Him an answer, an answer in this repentant thief who cries out for Christ to remember him when He comes into His kingdom. He speaks the words: "Thou shalt be with Me in paradise." You can search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find such a wonderful word of God, a word of such mercy as this word. Jesus is proclaiming the greatest possible good to the most ill-deserving of all sinners. "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise."
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"The Greatest Words Ever Spoken" (Luke 23:43)
turnorburn